Posts tagged Class

Newly-released research found that gentrification produces mostly positive effects for original lower-income residents, but that doesn’t mean there are no losers. Rather, neighborhood change is far more complex than the typical narratives let on, and there are a lot of ways to decipher and judge its effects on individuals. Keep reading…

Sex workers face stigma, legal penalties, and police violence in the District, and one of the impacts is that many have trouble finding a place to live. That’s one of the reasons why a coalition of DC sex workers and supporters are pushing a bill to reduce criminal penalties for consensually exchanging sex for money. Keep reading…

Our region is experiencing a 40-plus-year economic boom. We can see it, feel it, and hear it. Stories about the pressure exerted by the high cost of living in DC and its inner suburbs, particularly on longtime residents, abound—and rightfully so. But this economic boom hasn’t been constrained by geography. Keep reading…

One of the most complicated (and perhaps uncomfortable) conversations people can have is about death. How will we choose to remember others or have others remember us? As urbanists, we can look at this topic from another lens too: the way we use land for our burial rituals, and how those practices might shift as our population grows and our housing shortage increases. Keep reading…

In response to growth in attendance, Arlington County Public Schools (APS) is opening some new schools and shifting the location of county-wide “option” programs to better utilize resources. As a result, the School Board must approve new boundaries for neighborhood schools in the southern portion of the county on December 6. Keep reading…

Despite the amount of wealth and power that exist in the Washington region, the benefits of living in the area do not extend equally to all its residents. DC and the surrounding suburbs have positive health outcomes well above the national average, but when you look closer at the data, there stark differences from neighborhood to neighborhood. Keep reading…

Cities need to focus on the humanity and the agency of the people living there regardless of socioeconomic status, says writer and activist OluTimehin Adegbeye. She poses some important questions we should ask about cities: “How are they run?”, “How do they grow?” and most importantly, “How do they decide who belongs and who doesn’t?” Keep reading…

Last week, Mayor Muriel Bowser proposed a reset of her Vision Zero campaign, acknowledging the unpleasant fact that fatalities have risen over the past several years. Drilling down by ward, it’s clear that the poorest parts of the city have the most crashes compared to the number of people who walk or ride transit. Keep reading…

“Middle neighborhoods” are prevalent and important — so why are they ignored? Your bus network may never change, even though changing it would make it better. During campaign season, mayoral candidates shift their focus from downtowns to neighborhoods. Keep reading…

Montgomery County public schools have been growing at an incredible rate and show no sign of abating. Instead of adjusting boundaries to allow a more equal distribution of students, the county is building additions in its over-capacity and less-wealthy schools. Keep reading…

In one particular case, it turns out that DC has more in common with Baton Rouge, Louisiana than you might think. DC is 35.6% white, which makes it more similar to Baton Rouge (at 36.4%) than San Francisco (at 41.2%). That's according to a new online tool that uses Census data to compare cities. Keep reading…

Urbanists in the District and elsewhere often find themselves at odds with longtime elderly and working class residents who challenge our positions on transportation and planning. This unnecessary animosity is caused by a narrow-minded concept of urbanism that antagonizes families, the elderly and long-term residents.
Many urbanists seek greater density by revitalizing… Keep reading…